How to Use Varenicline (Chantix)

Topics: Chantix | Generics | Smoking Cessation | Smoking Cessation Agents | Tobacco | Varenicline

Henry is a 45-year-old married man with anxiety and alcohol use disorder who smokes a pack a day. He has tried nicotine replacement in the past but was unsuccessful. His alcohol use has stabilized in recent months, and he believes he is ready to make another attempt at quitting smoking. There are three medications with FDA approval for nicotine depende

Varenicline and Bupropion: Soaring Again With EAGLES?

Topics: Addiction | Addiction Treatment | Bupropion | Chantix | Co-occurring disorders | Dual diagnosis | FDA Warnings | Medication | Pharmacology | Research | Research Update | Side Effects | Smoking Cessation | Smoking Cessation Agents | Substance Use | Substance use disorders | Suicidality | Suicide | Tobacco | Varenicline | Wellbutrin

Review of: Anthenelli RM et al, Lancet 2016;387(10037):2507–2520 Varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban and others) are effective treatments for tobacco use disorder, but their use (and sales) took a big hit in 2009 when the FDA slapped both with black box warnings linking them to psychiatric complications, including suicidal ideation. Although

Using Smoking Cessation Medications in Patients With Mental Illness

Topics: Comorbidity | Smoking Cessation | Smoking Cessation Agents

As you have likely noted in your practice, smoking is very common among patients with mental illness. Studies have shown that nearly every psychiatric diagnosis is associated with an increased prevalence of smoking, and that there is a growing disparity in smoking rates between patients with mental illness and the general population (Dickerson F et al,

Smoking Cessation and Psychiatric Disorders

Topics: Addiction | Smoking Cessation Agents

Over the last few decades, doctors have done a better job at convincing their patients to stop smoking. But much of this improvement has been relegated to patients without mental illness. A recent study found that from 2004 to 2011, the U.S. smoking rate declined from 19.2% to 16.5% in people without mental illness, but the rate dipped only slightly in

Good News for Smoking Cessation Drugs: Not as Scary as Once Thought

Topics: Research Updates | Smoking Cessation Agents

How to Treat Tobacco Use Disorder—A Primer

Topics: Addiction | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy | Psychotherapy | Smoking Cessation Agents

You may or may not consider smoking cessation to be part of your job description. But tobacco use disorder is a psychiatric syndrome, per DSM-5. To officially diagnose it, you have to establish a "problematic pattern" of tobacco use leading to "significant distress" which lasts at least 12 months. DSM lists 11 criteria, and the more criteria that apply,

Understanding the New World of E-Cigarettes

Topics: Addiction | Cognitive Behavioral Therapy | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Smoking Cessation Agents | Substance Abuse

It Pays to Quit Smoking

Topics: Addiction | Practice Tools and Tips | Psychotherapy | Research Updates | Smoking Cessation Agents | Substance Abuse

Do Electronic Cigarettes Help Smokers Quit?

Topics: Research Updates | Smoking Cessation Agents

FDA Warns About Combining Chantix and Alcohol

Topics: News of Note | Smoking Cessation Agents

Interventions to Help Patients with Depression Quit Smoking

Topics: Research Updates | Smoking Cessation Agents

Can Instant Messaging Enhance Treatment Outcomes?

Topics: Anxiety Disorder | Computers in Psychiatric Practice | Practice Tools and Tips | Research Updates | Smoking Cessation Agents

Subject: TECHNOLOGY Short Description: Can Instant Messaging Enhance Treatment Outcomes? Background: Whether you see your patients quarterly, monthly, or even weekly, you certainly are not with them as much as their cell phones are. Theoretically (at least, for some types of therapy), we could enhance treatment outcomes by texting patients ther

Five Treatments for Smoking Cessation Compared

Topics: Research Updates | Smoking Cessation Agents

Smoking Cessation: Which Options are Best?

Topics: Smoking Cessation Agents

The field of smoking cessation has been abuzz since the FDA approved Chantix (varenicline) in 2006. Pfizer’s studies showed better efficacy for Chantix than bupropion (Wellbutrin/Zyban), and the mechanism of action is fascinating (see below). But several controversial issues have arisen to muddy the waters. Reports of psychiatric side effects surfa

Some trouble with Chantix

Topics: Smoking Cessation Agents